Road Doggin

Due to connivence and the fact that after living for free in the woods during our thru-hikes, we think it’s a waste of money to pay $45 bucks a night for an RV spot.  If we were going to stay a few days in one place then yes, but we are just passing through.  Here’s our traveling nightly ritual;  Flying J and Pilot Truck Stops are our favorite for many reasons.  They have a rewards card that gives you 3 cent off a gallon of gas, discounts at their dump stations, free water to refill (although so far in Canada the water and dumps have not been turned on due to the cold temperatures), usually there’s a Denny’s restaurant that has free WiFi, and some have separate overnight parking for RVs.  The parking situation is key because most semi-truckers will run their generators all night long.  It was really a bigger issue with Beulah (our old RV), but not with Marge (our new RV) because she is insulated!  We will fill up with gas.  Grab a drink inside and use the internet, then crank up the generator for some TV with dinner.  Like the trail, our dinner conversations suck.  I mean we are together 24/7 on the road and there’s not much to talk about.  In the morning Shadow will go in for coffee before we head back on the road.  The Canadian Flying J’s have Tim Hortons (fast food/coffee/doughnut place).  In the U.S. our number one choice for overnight parking is Walmart.  So we will fill up with gas then head over to WallyWorld for the night to get away from the semi’s.  It seems the Canadians frown on parking at Walmarts.  

The long flat stretches of road in of Saskatchewan/Alberta have helped us hone our sweet spot for gas mileage on Marge (54MPH).  We were told to expect 6MPGs and that is probably the case if you are driving 80MPH, which by the way is easy to do.  Marge cruises  at 54MPH and life is good at 9-11MPG.  

Judy (our dog) woke me around 4am needing to go outside.  When I opened the door, everything was white.  Large fluffy flakes fell covering everything including Judy.  She’s 15 years old now and gets cold easily.  Yesterday in Saskatoon we stopped at a pet store to find her a warmer sweater.  I brought her inside to get the correct size.  She was excited to walk around and sniff everything.  Not surprisingly the only options were Canadian hockey jerseys.  Not knowing which one to pick, I chose one with an airplane.  I haven’t written much about Judy because there isn’t much to say.  She is in travel mode. If the RV is moving she is sleeping.  We have to wake her up when we stop.  She eats when we eat and gets multiple treats daily thanks to Gamma (my mom).  In Florida we gave her a nightly anti-histamine for allergies with peanut butter and she doesn’t let us forget that before bed.  We have all been in travel mode really.  We eat healthy on the road thanks to Large Marge, but no exercise.  I don’t mind doing yoga or jumping jacks in the far corner of Walmart but doing that at a truck stop freaks me out.

Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Travel Mode.